Molefe’s harrowing dagga addiction past

A MONTH ago, he was driven to Mohlomi Hospital chained so as to control his aggressiveness which was influenced by dagga/marijuana overdose.

For the past 14 years, nothing mattered to 31-year-old Pheello Molefe whose priority was only to satisfy his dagga addiction.

Molefe was admitted at Mohlomi Psychiatric Hospital in early September this year, after showing signs of mental disturbance and aggression, and was released after three weeks of intensive medical care at the hospital.

 Since his release, he avoids friends and places which influenced him to smoke dagga, and has been able to keep clean for almost a month. He says he is committed to ensuring that he never gets back to his addiction habit ever again.

While Molefe’s family has a history of mental health illness, his case was aggravated by the death of his brother.

Speaking to the Lesotho Times on how he ended up being addicted to the drug, Molefe notes that growing up in Maseru, fitting in with his peers had always been a challenge. He said all his friends smoked dagga and had been pressuring him into smoking until he gave in to peer pressure but took moderate doses.

“Smoking dagga was never a problem for the 14 years I have been smoking. The problem was stopping, as a result I was forced to make sure that I fed my addiction on a daily basis,” Molefe said.

However, his situation was worsened by the death of his brother, a loss which he struggled to come to terms with.

Molefe found solace in smoking dagga, a drug he was already accustomed to. Only this time he was not using it for recreation but to ‘numb’ his pain of losing his brother.

“I started smoking a lot after the death of my brother, I think this was the only time I overdosed to the extent that my mental health suffered. Coming to terms with his death and accepting that he was gone was a hard pill to swallow. I started smoking more and more to numb the pain until I lost my mind,” he said.

All Molefe could remember was that he was hospitalised because he was being aggressive and was mentally unstable.

The memory of the day of his admission is blurry in his mind and he is reluctant to revisit the days after his brother’s death which resulted in his dagga overdose.

Although Mr Molefe claims that his mental health changed after the death of his brother, his mother Malereko Molefe differs.

Ms Molefe says ever since her son started using drugs back in 2009, his hygiene and priorities changed.

She says he started neglecting basic personal hygiene and stayed most of the time on the streets under the influence of dagga, to the extent that community members nicknamed him Ntate Mokhukhu (Mr shack) because he spent all his time at a certain shack smoking dagga.

Ms Molefe says she had lost faith in ever seeing her son relieved from addiction, and knowing the mental health history in the family did not help the situation at all.

She believes that her son inherited mental illness which was only aggravated by use of the drug.

Speaking on nursing a mentally ill person, Ms Molefe says the journey is painful and lonely owing to stigma and discrimination attached to mental health.

She says that the stigma attached to mental health restricts victims from accessing mental health services on time for fear of being discriminated against. As a result, mentally ill people wait until their situation is bad and difficult to treat.

 She says this stigma has seen mental health patients scattered around streets of Maseru and vulnerable to abuse including sexual exploitation.

Of her son’s current mental health state, Ms Molefe says that there is finally hope that Molefe has been given a shot at a drug-free life.

 Her son’s priorities, she says, have shifted as he no longer hangs out with friends who introduced him to dagga, and is trying by all means to maintain personal hygiene.

She says his loyalty and consistency in taking his mental health treatment has proven that mental illness is manageable.

While Molefe was lucky to get the mental healthcare and medication which is proving to be putting his mental illness under control, this might not be a case for many other youths who are addicted to drugs and urgently need medical attention.

This is owing to the fact that Lesotho’s only mental hospital is struggling to accommodate mental health patients, most of whom are dagga and crystal methamphetamine addicts, also known as crystal meth.

The hospital has just 35 beds and in 2023 alone, its admission increased to 105 patients, posing an accommodation challenge for the hospital.

Mohlomi Hospital’s psychologist, Lilian Pali says the increased admission especially of crystal meth addicts happens at a time when drug rehabilitation centre, the Blue Cross rehabilitation Centre is no longer operational and the majority of patients who relapse into their addiction habit get re-admitted time and again without a sustainable rehabilitation program to help them beat their addiction for good.

Blue Cross Rehabilitation Centre was closed in May 2022 due to financial challenges. The rehabilitation centre was financially sponsored by the Ministry of Health. Ms Pali suggested that the rehabilitation centre be re-opened to address the high number of addicts who relapse.

She says there is not much that the hospital can do to ensure that drug addicts do not relapse, and that their services are exclusive of rehabilitation.

The hospital, which is used to treating dagga addicts, is now dominated by crystal meth addicts.

Ms Pali also states that another challenge is posed by pharmacies selling over-the-counter drugs to the youth without demanding signed prescriptions. She says there is an urgent need for the health ministry to ensure regulation of the mushrooming of unlicensed pharmacies, stating that most of them are left under the care of people who know nothing about drugs.

“These pharmacies are opened by nurses who do not even have licences to do so. After opening them, they leave them in the care of people with no medical background,” Ms Pali says.

She says that due to drug affordability challenges, most youth opt for over-the-counter drugs and misuse them to satisfy their drug cravings.

According to the latest World Health Organisation (WHO) data Lesotho ranks number 61 in the world with regard to drug abuse.

In response to Lesotho’s mental health challenges, Minister of Health Selibe Mochoboroane says it is the responsibility of his ministry to ensure that the country’s citizens are healthy both physically and mentally.

He says despite mental health falling under non-infectious diseases, it is highly stigmatised in Lesotho.

He says with 20.8 percent of Basotho suffering from mental illness, a lot of them suffer in silence and are reluctant to access mental health medical services.

“Apart from that, Lesotho ranks number one worldwide among countries with highest incidents of suicide which are a result of depression,” Mr Mochoboroane says.

He further states that although mental health services are limited in the country, and not effectively executed most of the time, people still do not access them. They instead only visit health centres when their situation has worsened and are at a stage where it is challenging to treat, he says.

But there is good news despite the glaring challenges. According to Mr Mochoboroane in order to advance mental health services in the country, the government through the ministry of health, has finalised a mental health policy, which he will soon be presented before the cabinet.

His ministry, Mr Mochoboroane says, has also established a task force which will specifically focus on youth mental health issues.

Mr Mochoboroane further notes that they are making efforts towards training doctors and nurses to equip them with highly relevant skills to address mental health related issues in the country.

“We have also taken a step towards incorporating mental health into integrated and comprehensive primary healthcare services,” he says.

Mr Mochoboroane further tells the Lesotho Times, that his ministry is making concerted efforts towards reopening the Blue Cross Rehabilitation Centre, as the facility will help Lesotho to effectively address alcohol and substance abuse in the country.

On the question of regulating pharmacies, Mr Mochoboroane says   the government has come up with the Medicine and Medical Devices Bill of 2019. The Bill has been passed by both houses of Lesotho’s bicameral Parliament and is awaiting royal assent.

The anticipated Act aims to establish the Medicine Regulatory Authority, which will be a statutory body responsible for regulating and controlling medicines and medical devices.

Under the legislation, the authority shall regulate the manufacturing, sale, and utilization of medical products, ensuring that such products meet required standards of safety, efficacy and quality thus protecting and promoting public health.

Also worried about substance abuse is the Lesotho Mounted Police Service (LMPS), whose Police Spokesperson Senior Superintendent Kabelo Halahala, says that the country is heading for disaster with crystal meth addiction.

He says police have been making efforts to put the situation under control through arrests among others, but crystal meth users and buyers have spread around Maseru with Khubetsoana north of the city, being the famous hotspot.

Meanwhile, World Health Organisation (WHO) Country Representative Dr Richard Banda, during last Friday’s Commemoration of the World Mental Health Day held at Mohlomi Psychiatrist Hospital, stated that mental health is a universal human right.

Dr Banda said mental health is a silent epidemic and an issue which catches every corner of the globe regardless of age, gender, nationality, and social status.

“Recognising that mental health is a fundamental right is the same as promoting the well-being of all people. Lesotho, just like many countries, has not been immune to the global mental health crisis.

“The struggle of mental health is particularly acute, the burden of mental illness has been heavy and suicide rates have been unacceptable high.

“Lesotho has the highest suicide rate per capita in the world and this stands at 72 rates per 100 000 of population of the country,” Dr Banda said.

He said the high mental illness rate is a symptom of a deeper problem, one that calls for collective action and dismantling of stigma; further stating that it is important for all people to therefore understand that mental health is not a matter of personal weakness or failure as perceived by society.

Mental Health, Dr Banda said, is a legitimate health issue that affects all people either directly or indirectly, and too often stigma and discrimination stop people from seeking the services that they need. Stigma, he said, renders people unable to talk about their mental health experiences with their families, friends, and colleagues.